canadian mining
Stop mining on KI lands: What part of 'NO' does Ontario not understand?
Without consent or consultation, God's Lake Resources, a junior gold exploration company, trespassed by exploring on Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) lands. God's Lake is now threatening to drill on sacred KI burial area. KI is saying NO to God's Lake Resources, just as the community opposed mining exploration by Platinex in 2008 and De Beers in 2010.
Not only is it repeatedly clear that the Canadian government excels at ignoring Indigenous communities' right to say NO, but it criminalizes them for their opposition to rights infringements.
Hitting the chromite jackpot may not benefit Ontarians
The Ring of Fire is causing some controversy. No, I'm not talking about the song Johnny Cash recorded in 1963, but rather more Canadian -- a discovery of natural resources, larger than Prince Edward Island, in northern Ontario that could completely revitalize the northern Ontario economy.
Melancthon quarry galvanizes opponents
In 1830, a group of men set out from Hamilton, Ontario, to open up 32 hectares of land on a small Ojibway lake by Melancthon Township's Pine River. They, and the small industries that came after them, were attracted to the water resources in what was soon to be known as Horning's Mills. They built a sawmill, a grist mill, a frame house, and brought their families to settle and build this small historic community.
Canadian cultural modesty and U.S. artistic ambition in film
Terrence Malick's film, The Tree of Life, opens today. It won the Palme d'or at Cannes, a big prestigious deal. Like his others, it inspires something nearer reverence than mere respect: for its "audacity and vision" in "excavating primal, eternal meanings" and for its "sheer beauty."
These abstractions are like the solemn voice-overs in his films, which scatter words like evil, wicked, "the spark." There are always gorgeous shots of nature that you tend to be aware of as gorgeous. I don't mean there's anything phony in his obsessions; he's a Christian seeker who makes lush films he agonizes over. For critics they may come as relief after too many movies about hangovers and superheroes.
Speaking out against an unwanted Quebec mine
The Algonquin community of Barriere Lake, Quebec, have for weeks been confronting a new threat to their unceded indigenous territory.
Cartier Resources -- a Val d'Or based corporation -- has begun line-cutting in preparation for its mining exploration. According to its website, the mining company claims that their "100 per cent owned" land base of 439 sq. km boasts rich copper deposits ripe for exploitation.
The question is, owned by who?
Le Plan Nord, a plan to exploit northern Quebec
"The Project of a Generation," said the official Plan Nord website [In French here and in English here]. Indeed it is going to be a project that will determine the fate of the next generation of Quebecers. It is a 25-year-long development plan, but its implication on Quebec's economy and environment will extend for decades, if not centuries, after the project wraps up. It is safe to say that the very people who are eager to see this plan materialize will never live to see its devastating impact on the environment.